


on the appropriateness of crocs

by yugto



Series: as per my last email [2]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crocs, Epistolary, Gen, Take Your Fandom to Work Day, my heartfelt apologies to intsys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 11:23:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21510256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yugto/pseuds/yugto
Summary: heyo all,are crocs appropriate for the office? i walked past seteth and rhea on my way to the front desk and seteth gave me one of Those Looks. would love to hear your thoughts.yours,claude
Series: as per my last email [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1550389
Comments: 12
Kudos: 134





	on the appropriateness of crocs

**Author's Note:**

> this fic is a spiritual continuation of [Kitchen Protocol](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20611130), but you don't really need to have read it to enjoy this!
> 
> i have never worn crocs into the office but i feel as though my standards for "office appropriate attire" fall by the day, and that (+ emailing back and forth with my friends who work front desk in different units around my uni) is what inspired this one.

**From:** Claude von Riegan <[cvr@gmu.edu](mailto:cvr@gmu.edu)>  
**To:** Hilda V. Goneril <[hvgone@gmu.edu](mailto:hvgone@gmu.edu)>, Byleth Eisner <[eisnerb@gmu.edu](mailto:eisnerb@gmu.edu)>, Sylvain J. Gautier <[sgautier@gmu.edu](mailto:sgautier@gmu.edu)>, Dorothea Arnault <[dorothea@gmu.edu](mailto:dorothea@gmu.edu)>, Linhardt von Hevring <[lvh@gmu.edu](mailto:lvh@gmu.edu)>  
**Cc:** Felix H. Fraldarius <[fhfrldrs@gmu.edu](mailto:fhfrldrs@gmu.edu)>  
**Subj:** on the appropriateness of crocs

heyo all,

are crocs appropriate for the office? i walked past seteth and rhea on my way to the front desk and seteth gave me one of Those Looks. would love to hear your thoughts.

yours,

claude

Claude von Riegan  
Garreg Mach University, Class of 1185  
Department of Chemistry / Diversity Minor  
Center for Community Based Learning | Student Assistant

—

 **From:** Felix H. Fraldarius <[fhfrldrs@gmu.edu](mailto:fhfrldrs@gmu.edu)>   
**To:** Claude von Riegan <[cvr@gmu.edu](mailto:cvr@gmu.edu)>, Hilda V. Goneril <[hvgone@gmu.edu](mailto:hvgone@gmu.edu)>, Byleth Eisner <[eisnerb@gmu.edu](mailto:eisnerb@gmu.edu)>, Sylvain J. Gautier <[sgautier@gmu.edu](mailto:sgautier@gmu.edu)>, Dorothea Arnault <[dorothea@gmu.edu](mailto:dorothea@gmu.edu)>, Linhardt von Hevring <[lvh@gmu.edu](mailto:lvh@gmu.edu)>  
**Subj:** Re: on the appropriateness of crocs

for the record, he’s wearing those godawful bright yellow ones. i’m at front desk with him and i can’t look over at him without being blinded.

/felix

Felix H. Fraldarius  
Garreg Mach University, Class of 1185 // _Computer Science & Engineering  
_Center for Community Based Learning // _Student Assistant_

— 

**From:** Dorothea Arnault <[dorothea@gmu.edu](mailto:dorothea@gmu.edu)>  
**To:** Hilda V. Goneril <[hvgone@gmu.edu](mailto:hvgone@gmu.edu)>, Felix H. Fraldarius <[fhfrldrs@gmu.edu](mailto:fhfrldrs@gmu.edu)>, Claude von Riegan <[cvr@gmu.edu](mailto:cvr@gmu.edu)>, Byleth Eisner <[eisnerb@gmu.edu](mailto:eisnerb@gmu.edu)>, Sylvain J. Gautier <[sgautier@gmu.edu](mailto:sgautier@gmu.edu)>, Linhardt von Hevring <[lvh@gmu.edu](mailto:lvh@gmu.edu)>  
**Subj:** Re: on the appropriateness of crocs

Felix, the fact that you have to specify the color of Claude’s crocs is frankly a little disturbing. Claude, do you have _multiple pairs????_

xoxo,

Dorothea

Dorothea Arnault  
Garreg Mach University School of Music: Vocal Performance  
Mittelfrank Choral Group: Student Coordinator  
Center for Community Based Learning: Student Assistant

— 

**From:** Hilda V. Goneril <[hvgone@gmu.edu](mailto:hvgone@gmu.edu)>  
**To:** Felix H. Fraldarius <[fhfrldrs@gmu.edu](mailto:fhfrldrs@gmu.edu)>, Claude von Riegan <[cvr@gmu.edu](mailto:cvr@gmu.edu)>, Byleth Eisner <[eisnerb@gmu.edu](mailto:eisnerb@gmu.edu)>, Sylvain J. Gautier <[sgautier@gmu.edu](mailto:sgautier@gmu.edu)>, Dorothea Arnault <[dorothea@gmu.edu](mailto:dorothea@gmu.edu)>, Linhardt von Hevring <[lvh@gmu.edu](mailto:lvh@gmu.edu)>  
**Subj:** Re: on the appropriateness of crocs

Does he have the little Jibbitz in with the Almyran flag on them?? 

That’s my fav Diversity minor!! I stan 😩👌🏻

<3 Hilda

Sent from my iPhone

— 

“Hey, Teach. What brings you to the front desk?”

“I wanted to see the fashion disaster for myself.” Byleth leans on the front desk, putting Claude at eye level with their chest. Nervously swallowing, he jerks his eyes upward to Byleth’s face. He can’t tell, but he thinks they might be smirking.

“Feast your eyes,” he says, swiveling his desk chair to the right and sticking his leg out. One bright yellow Croc, adorned with a little Almyran flag, wobbles on his foot.

“The warmest it’s supposed to be today is fifty-five degrees,” Byleth observes, taking in his entire outfit: a forest green button-up shirt, knee-length khaki shorts, and the bright yellow Crocs that brought Byleth to the front desk in the first place. “Isn’t that a little cold for you?”

“Colder than Almyra, sure. But Riegan gets colder in the winter,” Claude shrugs. “Plus, I’m inside all day today, and it’s not supposed to rain when I walk home.”

Next to Claude, Felix huffs, but doesn’t say anything. He’s dressed slightly more sensibly for the weather, in a black graphic tee, gray joggers, and sneakers, but he still looks a little cold. Byleth sympathizes; CBL is always a touch too hot in the spring and summer, and a touch too cold in the autumn and winter. 

(Byleth wishes they could dress like the undergrad employees get to, but being a graduate student means annoying things like _professionalism_ and _business-appropriate attire_ have slightly more import than they did before. Although they’re dressed professionally, in a blazer, button-up, and slacks, they think with fond longing of their favorite ratty gray hoodie that reads simply _women want me, fish fear me_.)

Claude stage whispers, “Felix is grumpy today because he forgot his jacket at home.” 

“Felix also has ears, and can hear you,” Felix snaps, which is a little unwarranted in Claude’s opinion. He’s worked front desk shifts on and off with Felix for almost a year now! Felix should be used to Claude’s… well, _everything_ by this point.

“Hey, hey, calm down! It’s not my fault you forgot it,” Claude says easily. “Let me guess, you went to the gym at butts o’clock AM, came back home all warm and sweaty, and made it all the way to the office before you realized you weren’t wearing it.”

“I swear to the Goddess, von Riegan—” Felix starts.

“I would love to stick around for this argument,” Byleth says, the corner of their mouth twitching into what could be feasibly called a smile, “but I’m afraid I have a meeting to attend. Do let me know how it ends.”

—

 **From:** Byleth Eisner <[eisnerb@gmu.edu](mailto:eisnerb@gmu.edu)>  
**To:** Dorothea Arnault <[dorothea@gmu.edu](mailto:dorothea@gmu.edu)>, Hilda V. Goneril <[hvgone@gmu.edu](mailto:hvgone@gmu.edu)>, Felix H. Fraldarius <[fhfrldrs@gmu.edu](mailto:fhfrldrs@gmu.edu)>, Claude von Riegan <[cvr@gmu.edu](mailto:cvr@gmu.edu)>, Sylvain J. Gautier <[sgautier@gmu.edu](mailto:sgautier@gmu.edu)>, Linhardt von Hevring <[lvh@gmu.edu](mailto:lvh@gmu.edu)>  
**Subj:** Re: on the appropriateness of crocs

Just weighing in here – I think the combination of the button-up, khakis, and bright yellow Crocs is something that Seteth might not quite know how to deal with.

Sent from my iPhone

— 

**From:** Hilda V. Goneril <[hvgone@gmu.edu](mailto:hvgone@gmu.edu)>  
**To:** Felix H. Fraldarius <[fhfrldrs@gmu.edu](mailto:fhfrldrs@gmu.edu)>, Claude von Riegan <[cvr@gmu.edu](mailto:cvr@gmu.edu)>, Byleth Eisner <[eisnerb@gmu.edu](mailto:eisnerb@gmu.edu)>, Sylvain J. Gautier <[sgautier@gmu.edu](mailto:sgautier@gmu.edu)>, Dorothea Arnault <[dorothea@gmu.edu](mailto:dorothea@gmu.edu)>, Linhardt von Hevring <[lvh@gmu.edu](mailto:lvh@gmu.edu)>  
**Subj:** Re: on the appropriateness of crocs

Tbh that’s a LOOK

Sent from my iPhone

— 

It’s a wonderfully quiet day at the front desk; since it’s the Red Wolf Moon now, students have mostly stopped coming in for their orientations and information sessions for the various programs in the Center. The lull in programming means the front desk staff have reached their collective favorite part of the quarter: the part where they only deal with students once an hour, if they see any students at all during their shift.

 _Most_ of the students who work the front desk take this time to study, or work on homework, or scroll through social media on their phone. Unfortunately for Felix, he has this particular shift with Claude, who takes the quiet as an opportunity to _talk_.

“You know,” Claude says conversationally, “I’m just saying, Sylvain and Dimitri would never make fun of my outfit like this.”

“Sylvain and Dimitri are from Faerghus,” Felix replies, without looking up from _Cracking the Coding Interview_. “They probably lost all feeling in their legs years ago.”

Claude frowns. “Wait, aren't _you_ from Faerghus?”

“Your point?” 

At that point, Sylvain walks into the office wearing an unholy combination of a hoodie, Adidas basketball shorts, white crew socks, and neon green Crocs. Even in this godawful outfit, he still looks handsome. Felix wants to throw up.

Claude, obviously unfazed by Sylvain’s shitty fashion choices, has his phone out – Felix thinks he might be filming a Snapchat. “Whoa, that’s a look, bro,” he says, zooming in on Sylvain’s outfit. “Did you come straight from the gym?”

“No, I overslept,” Sylvain grins, as if he doesn’t give a fuck that he’s shown up at his _actual job_ like this. He probably doesn’t. “Oh, hey, Fe! You forgot your jacket this morning. I brought it for you.” He slings Felix’s jacket over his shoulders and gives him an absent-minded peck on the cheek.

As Felix turns a brilliant shade of red, Sylvain strolls off to put his lunch in the office refrigerator, whistling. Part of Felix wants to believe Sylvain doesn’t realize what he just did, but then Sylvain grins and winks at him as he disappears into the kitchen.

Felix spends the next minute fighting the (completely rational) urge to jump up from the front desk and throttle Sylvain. The pause that follows afterward is only broken when Claude says, “ _So_ , you and Sylvain, huh.” 

“ _Shut up_ ,” Felix hisses, brandishing _Cracking the Coding Interview_ at Claude as if he’s about to throw it from point-blank range. Claude, blessedly, does.

— 

**From:** Claude von Riegan <[cvr@gmu.edu](mailto:cvr@gmu.edu)>  
**To:** Byleth Eisner <[eisnerb@gmu.edu](mailto:eisnerb@gmu.edu)>  
**Subj:** my argument with felix

you asked me to let you know how the argument ended, so here’s my recap:

  1. felix just started ignoring me after a while, so i guess he won. 
  2. but i caught sylvain kissing him in the office on snapchat, so now i have dirt on both of them! 
  3. but felix threatened to throw his coding interview book at me, so that snap will never see the light of day. i like my head on my shoulders, where it belongs.



yours,

claude

Claude von Riegan  
Garreg Mach University, Class of 1185  
Department of Chemistry / Diversity Minor  
Center for Community Based Learning | Student Assistant

— 

**From:** Byleth Eisner <[eisnerb@gmu.edu](mailto:eisnerb@gmu.edu)>  
**To:** Claude von Riegan <[cvr@gmu.edu](mailto:cvr@gmu.edu)>  
**Subj:** Re: my argument with felix

I hope you make it out of your shift without being bludgeoned to death by _Cracking the Coding Interview_. Here’s hoping that Felix will only crack coding problems in the next hour, and not your skull.

Byleth Eisner _(they/them/theirs)_  
Garreg Mach University | M. Ed. Curriculum & Instruction - Multicultural Education  
K-12 Outreach Program | Graduate Student Assistant

— 

By some miracle of the Goddess, Claude survives the rest of his front desk shift. Sylvain and Hilda are up next, and Claude and Felix are on their way out; Felix has a review session for his machine learning midterm, and Claude needs to go put some hours in at his research lab. 

“Wait,” Claude says, as he gets up to swap seats with Sylvain, “do the Jibbitz in your Crocs say _69_?”

“Yes,” Sylvain grins. He props his feet up on the front desk, _exactly_ the way Hanneman has told him multiple times to stop doing. “Feast your eyes!” True to his word, one Croc has a little 6 in it, while the other has a little 9 in it.

“Holy _shit_ ,” Claude says, whipping out his phone and dropping into a squat. Tilting his phone to find a good angle, he says, “Hold on, let me take a picture to send to everyone else.”

“You are both absolutely disgusting,” Felix informs Sylvain and Claude, but there’s very little venom behind it.

— 

**From:** Claude von Riegan <[cvr@gmu.edu](mailto:cvr@gmu.edu)>  
**To:** Hilda V. Goneril <[hvgone@gmu.edu](mailto:hvgone@gmu.edu)>, Byleth Eisner <[eisnerb@gmu.edu](mailto:eisnerb@gmu.edu)>, Sylvain J. Gautier <[sgautier@gmu.edu](mailto:sgautier@gmu.edu)>, Dorothea Arnault <[dorothea@gmu.edu](mailto:dorothea@gmu.edu)>, Linhardt von Hevring <[lvh@gmu.edu](mailto:lvh@gmu.edu)>, Felix H. Fraldarius <[fhfrldrs@gmu.edu](mailto:fhfrldrs@gmu.edu)>  
**Subj:** Re: on the appropriateness of crocs  
**Attached:** 69crocs.jpg

look at sylvain’s crocs holy shit i feel so validated!! thx bro

yours,

claude

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone

— 

**community based LOSERS** , 10:23 AM 

**ain’t no lie baby bye bye by(leth)  
** Just so you know, Rhea has a meeting in the Cethleann conference room at 10:30.  
Hilda, you might want to get off TikTok before she gets there.  
Sylvain, just… do something about your appearance.

 **“you’re sylvain”, by carly simon  
**OH SHIT HLOD UP

 **your valentine xoxo  
**Sylvain really just spun the little 6 in his Croc so that it would say 99 instead LMAOOOOO

 **felix  
**coward.

 **Dorothea(:  
** You already looked unprofessional as is, you know.  
Might as well just have kept the 69 there. <3

— 

An hour later, Rhea leaves the Center to return to her own suite of offices on the second floor; Seteth follows a few feet behind her, pausing for a moment to squint suspiciously at Sylvain’s shoes. Once they’re out the door, the front desk breathes a collective sigh of relief. Hilda goes back to scrolling through TikTok on her phone, and Sylvain props his feet back up on the front desk to twist the little 6 in his right Croc back to restore the 69.

“Has anyone seen Linhardt?” Sylvain asks, putting his feet back on the floor. “He’s supposed to take over after me, but he hasn’t answered any of our emails all morning.”

“I think he’s napping in the Cethleann conference room in the back,” Dorothea says, putting her messenger bag down. “He texted me that he went in there to take a nap under the table after his 8:30 lecture, and I haven’t seen him since.”

“ _Goddess_ , I wish that were me,” Hilda mumbles, absent-mindedly examining her nails, before her eyes go wide. “Wait, the _Cethleann_ conference room?”

— 

**From:** Linhardt von Hevring <[lvh@gmu.edu](mailto:lvh@gmu.edu)>  
**To:** Hilda V. Goneril <[hvgone@gmu.edu](mailto:hvgone@gmu.edu)>, Byleth Eisner <[eisnerb@gmu.edu](mailto:eisnerb@gmu.edu)>, Sylvain J. Gautier <[sgautier@gmu.edu](mailto:sgautier@gmu.edu)>, Dorothea Arnault <[dorothea@gmu.edu](mailto:dorothea@gmu.edu)>, Felix H. Fraldarius <[fhfrldrs@gmu.edu](mailto:fhfrldrs@gmu.edu)>, Claude von Riegan <[cvr@gmu.edu](mailto:cvr@gmu.edu)>  
**Subj:** Re: on the appropriateness of crocs

so i woke up under the table and there was a staff meeting happening in the cethleann conference room

heard some complaints about your crocs bc theyre “unprofessional” and “inappropriate for an office setting”

thought you should know

\- linhardt

Linhardt von Hevring  
Garreg Mach University  
BS Anthropology: Human Evolutionary Biology / Minor in Philosophy  
Undergraduate Research Project | Student Assistant

— 

**From:** Rhea A. Bishop <[rhea@gmu.edu](mailto:rhea@gmu.edu)>   
**To:** Community Based Learning Staff <[cbl_staff@gmu.edu](mailto:cbl_staff@gmu.edu)>   
**Subj:** [CBL Staff] Career Advancement Program: Dress for Success Pop-Up Event

Hello CBL, 

Please see the attached event from the Career Advancement Program, and pass on to all students and student staff in your networks.

Warm regards,

RHEA A. BISHOP  
Garreg Mach University  
Dean of Undergraduate Academics & Programming  
[ rhea@gmu.edu](mailto:rhea@gmu.edu) || Cathedral Hall, Suite 201

==

Hello, GMU staff!

Here at the Garreg Mach University Career Advancement Program, we want GMU students to feel confident and prepared as they begin the next steps in their career journey, whether that be attending career fairs and interviews or starting new jobs and internships. For some of our students, getting the workplace attire they need to feel confident and prepared can prove prohibitively expensive, and we want to help. On 14 Red Wolf Moon, we’re hosting our annual “Dress for Success” pop-up event where GMU students can come “shop” for clothes to support their job and internship search process, free of charge and with the support of CAP staff.

Please pass this information on to your networks. With your help, we’ll make our students career-ready! Let’s help our students get that bread, as the kids say. You and I both know they’ll really _knead_ that _dough_!

Cheers,

Alois Rangeld  
Director, Garreg Mach University Career Advancement Program  
[ arangeld@gmu.edu ](mailto:arangeld@gmu.edu) || Cathedral Hall, Suite 131

— 

**From:** Sylvain J. Gautier <[sgautier@gmu.edu](mailto:sgautier@gmu.edu)>  
**To:** Felix H. Fraldarius <[fhfrldrs@gmu.edu](mailto:fhfrldrs@gmu.edu)>, Hilda V. Goneril <[hvgone@gmu.edu](mailto:hvgone@gmu.edu)>, Claude von Riegan <[cvr@gmu.edu](mailto:cvr@gmu.edu)>, Byleth Eisner <[eisnerb@gmu.edu](mailto:eisnerb@gmu.edu)>, Dorothea Arnault <[dorothea@gmu.edu](mailto:dorothea@gmu.edu)>, Linhardt von Hevring <[lvh@gmu.edu](mailto:lvh@gmu.edu)>   
**Subj:** Fwd: [CBL Staff] Career Center: Dress For Success Pop-Up Event

surprised seteth didn’t send this lmao

Sylvain J. Gautier  
Garreg Mach University | Macuil School of Business   
Center for Community Based Learning | Student Assistant

— 

**From:** Seteth C. Hol <[seteth@gmu.edu](mailto:seteth@gmu.edu)>   
**To:** Claude von Riegan <[cvr@gmu.edu](mailto:cvr@gmu.edu)>   
**Subj:** Your shoes

Claude,

I have a favor to ask of you—my younger sister has been asking for a pair of shoes much like yours and Sylvain’s. Might I inquire where you purchased yours?

Regards,

SETETH C. HOL  
Garreg Mach University  
Associate Dean | Undergraduate Academics & Programming  
[ seteth@gmu.edu](mailto:seteth@gmu.edu) | Cathedral Hall, Suite 201

—

 **From:** Claude von Riegan <[cvr@gmu.edu](mailto:cvr@gmu.edu)>  
**To:** Hilda V. Goneril <[hvgone@gmu.edu](mailto:hvgone@gmu.edu)>, Byleth Eisner <[eisnerb@gmu.edu](mailto:eisnerb@gmu.edu)>, Sylvain J. Gautier <[sgautier@gmu.edu](mailto:sgautier@gmu.edu)>, Dorothea Arnault <[dorothea@gmu.edu](mailto:dorothea@gmu.edu)>, Linhardt von Hevring <[lvh@gmu.edu](mailto:lvh@gmu.edu)>, Felix H. Fraldarius <[fhfrldrs@gmu.edu](mailto:fhfrldrs@gmu.edu)>  
**Subj:** Re: on the appropriateness of crocs  
**Attached:** seteth_wants_crocs.png

SETETH JUST ASKED ME WHERE I GOT MY CROCS BECAUSE HIS SISTER HAS BEEN ASKING FOR A PAIR. THAT’S WHY HE’S BEEN LOOKING AT MINE AND SYLVAIN’S ALL DAY. I NEVER WANT TO BE JUDGED ON MY CROCS EVER AGAIN THANK YOU.

yours, 

claude

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone

**Author's Note:**

> this one goes out to two people in particular, even though they will (hopefully) never read it: j, my front desk buddy from last year who taught me everything i know about working the front desk, and k, my fellow officer from two years ago who wore obnoxiously bright yellow crocs with 69 jibbitz (99 on "professional occasions") in them.
> 
> for reference, _cracking the coding interview_ (the book felix threatens claude with) can be seen [here](http://www.crackingthecodinginterview.com/uploads/6/5/2/8/6528028/header_images/1435811621.jpg). i also would not want to be hit with it.
> 
> yell at me about felix being a cs major and more on twitter [@tadhanastar](https://twitter.com/tadhanastar)


End file.
